The Lakers announced Sunday night that Kobe Bryant suffered a nasal fracture in the third quarter of the 2012 NBA All-Star Game after a hard foul from Dwyane Wade. Bryant held his nose several times after the play but finished the game, a 152-149 win for the West.

Here’s the play that resulted in the fracture:

The Salt Lake Tribune reported after the game that Bryant was suffering from headaches, and Bryat missed media availability after passing Michael Jordan for all-time scoring leader in All-Star Games. The Orange County Register reports Bryant will return to practice Monday after seeing a specialist and will play next Sunday against Wade’s Heat so it doesn’t sound like this will keep Bryant out any significant time, which isn’t surprising considering everything he’s played through the last two years.

Tough… ahem, break, for Kobe. The play was definitely not an accident, a purposeful foul from Wade in an All-Star Game. So I’m sure Lakers fans will only feel more warm and fuzzies bout Wade after this. It’s unlikely Wade will suffer any punishment for the play, especially with Bryant not missing time.

San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobili is expected to miss two weeks with a strained left oblique…Forward Tiago Splitter also is expected to miss two weeks with a strained right calf, but he traveled with the team to Salt Lake City and will continue his rehab during the road trip.

Ginobili has been playing great basketball when healthy this season, but has only appeared in 9 regular-season games so far because of injuries. Splitter has blossomed this season, averaging 9.4 points on 62% shooting in 20.7 minutes per game. The Spurs have been surging, and are currently on a 10-game winning streak, but these injuries will make it tough for them to sustain their incredibly high level of play.

James Harden (ankle) and Nick Collison (groin) are both out tonight against the Hornets. Big blow to the Thunder’s depth.

Harden has been having a career season, and has been making a strong case for the 6th Man of the Year Award. The #3 overall pick in 2009 has been averaging 16.8 points and 4.1 assists per game in 31.6 minutes per game this season, and his PER is a career-high 21.13. Collison has been a valuable defender off the bench for the Thunder, and has averaged 4.5 points and 4.1 rebounds in 20.5 minutes per game this season.

The Thunder should still be able to handle the Hornets without Harden and Collison available off the bench, but will need them back as soon as possible, as they are set to play the Celtics, the Lakers, the 76ers, and the Magic directly after they face the struggling Hornets.

Wow, this is terrible. According to the Oregonian’s Jason Quick, Blazers center and 2007 #1 overall pick Greg Oden is going to have to undergo microfracture surgery on his left knee, which will be his 2nd microfracture surgery on that knee since Oden came into the NBA. Oden has also undergone microfracture surgery and his right knee and fractured his left patella since entering the NBA, which he did after playing with a broken right wrist throughout much of his one year at Ohio State.

Needless to say, Oden is out for the rest of this season, and will, even in a best-case scenario, miss much of the 2012-13 season. Oden has only played in 82 games since being drafted, and hasn’t played an NBA minute since December 5th, 2009. This is the part of the Greg Oden injury story where we remind everyone that Oden has shown great promise when he’s actually been on the court and is still only 24 years old, but the chances of Oden’s knees forcing him to retire before he gets a shot at a legitimate NBA career are looking greater and greater.

When asked about Oden, Blazers team president Larry Miller said “It’s hard to put into words the heartbreak for everyone involved.” We wish Oden as speedy a recovery as possible, and hope we haven’t seen the last of such a promising young center on an NBA court.

From the sound of that, it could be a long while before the #1 pick in the 2007 draft is actually playing basketball again. Hopefully Oden can make an NBA return at some point down the line, but the day will come soon when the Blazers will have to decide how long they want to keep their ultra-talented but stunningly brittle young center, especially since he’s still making good money.